Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Flores.
Leslie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Moments By Design was definitely not planned, it’s been one of life’s wonderful surprises though! I guess you could say it was destiny or serendipity that this New Years Eve baby would end up opening a party in a box company and hoping to make everyone’s birthday feel as special as mine feels, I mean the whole world does celebrate it and there are always some amazing parties going on for NYE! The road to get there was certainly a journey, but one that’s made it entirely possible for me to create MBD.
I started out thinking my place was in Finance, so I worked at a hedge fund and an investment bank and down the road was recruited to commercial real estate (CRE), turns out numbers are numbers anywhere! CRE was fun and I was lucky to have some amazing mentors and leaders and work for one of the global leaders in my industry. It was through my last corporate job that my passion for startups was lit. I was fortunate enough that my job was to travel North America meeting and to connect with entrepreneurs and startup teams and WOW! the passion, drive, creativity and ambition these people had was astounding. I loved what I was doing but wanted to experience what these people had, so I quit my corporate job and took another job at a smaller company thinking that would be the answer. The new job needed some time to get everything put together so that just meant I got some much needed R&R.
Well, NYE was during that time and my sweet husband had decided he was going to throw my party; needless to say, NEVER have my husband throw a party for you! I ended up running around the day before to about 14+ places to get everything pulled together and while I got it done I was completely stressed and realized this is why we had stopped entertaining its WORK and I was on a plane five days a week, so I didn’t have any time for playlists and themes!
I looked for easier solutions and there was nothing out there that let me customize or do higher end plastic plates. Everything was the basic paper plates with the basic designs you could get anywhere. So since I had my R&R time, I decided to research if I could create higher end products that would be sustainable and have the ability to create custom designs. It turns out it was, so I turned the other job down and decided to go full steam into Moments By Design.
It’s been the craziest, scariest, most fun and rewarding jump I’ve ever made in my career! Moments By Design is growing and we get to create special moments for everyone without them having to do all the running around!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think any entrepreneur, especially a first timer, is lucky enough to have everything work according to plans, and if there is, can we please be friends, I need to learn your ways! For me, it was boxes that were one of the most soul crushing challenges in my business. I know it seems like such an odd thing to make you second guess your life goals, but our custom boxes had just about every challenge imaginable.
They went from bad cardboard (btw so many different grades of cardboard, who knew!?) to misprints to rain on delivery day (try having an 18 wheeler full of cardboard and it’s pouring (stress level 10 anyone?) to finding out your custom printing plates were done incorrectly.
You name it we pretty much dealt with it for our custom boxes, but as much as that process had me doubting I had what it took to start a company and make it successful, I pushed through the doubt and worked the problems as they came.
I ended up with beautiful boxes and a head full of knowledge and a realization that this would not be the only issue that would make me second guess myself, but in the end all that mattered was that I found the problem(s) and worked it to find a solution.
Moments By Design – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Moments By Design is about helping people remember life is about moments and we should create them! We all have so many things going on in our lives that we often forget to celebrate the people who are important to us because planning a party takes WORK!
At Moments By Design, we take the work out of the party! Now creating life’s moments is as 1, 2, 3.
1. Choose your theme – we have tons of insta worthy themes in stock and ready to ship! Plus, we can custom Design a theme just for you!
2. Customize your party – add the fun things you want to your party – custom donut wall, chocolate candles, click and make them yours!
3. Let the party start! – `We ship everything straight to your door, so all you have to do is take it out of our stylish box and let the fun begin!
Moments By Design has a few unique aspects of our business that set us apart. Most party-ware items are paper products that are mass produced in China. We decided to do things a bit differently! The first is our designs made by our graphic designers so you won’t find them elsewhere, it also means we can do custom parties designed just for our clients!
Our quality also makes us stand out. Our cups and plates aren’t paper products, they’re high end plastic. The plastic also means our products are sustainable, that’s right. The party never has to stop as our cups and plates are dishwashers safe! It turns out you can have fun while saving the world! Lastly, we’re proud to say we manufacture in the USA!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Wow, this is a tough one! There have been so many and I hope that trend continues! Some of my standouts have been launching (having an idea is one thing but getting it off the ground is something different!), our first sale, our first out of state sale, and the fact that we get to partner with so many amazing causes. We’ve partnered with veteran organizations, with education foundations and right now, we’re even reviewing scholarship applications for some pretty impressive high school students.
Pricing:
- Our themed party boxes start at $139.99
- We have fun party add on’s like chocolate candles, no more wax on your sweet treats starting at $11.99!
- Free shipping on orders over $35!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://momentsbydesign.com/
- Phone: 857-998-7988
- Email: info@momentsbydesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moments_by_design/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MomentsByDesignParties/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/momentsbydesign
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